BMW M5 reviews

2001 BMW M5 Driving Impressions

Let's start with the big, throbbing, heart of the car: its engine. At 302 cubic inches, the engine is not huge; but 21st century technology draws a heavy punch from a small package, so think of this 5.0-liter V8 as really big. The speed specs on the fastest production sedan on the planet? Acceleration from 0 to 60 in 4.8 seconds; quarter mile in 13.3 seconds at 108 mph; top speed electronically limited to 155 mph, which in sixth gear would be a casual 5200 rpm or so.

The powerband is eminently comfortable and cruisable, thanks largely to BMW's VANOS system of variable valve timing, which brings the massive torque down into the 3000 and even 2000 rpm range. The free-flowing exhaust system, which exits in four thick tailpipes, is considerably muted for the law, alas, so you have to open the windows to hear the engine sing.

With such acceleration and quick, sure handling, the M5 passes on a two-lane like a motorcycle. It's a fun and personally powerful feeling: twitch out and hammer it, twitch in and back off the gas, done in seconds. On the freeway you can use your foot to move in and out of holes: keep it in fourth gear and squirt, shift to fifth to get legs, and settle in sixth when there's no traffic.

You can hit the 6800-rpm rev limiter in a heartbeat in the lower gears, and it's easy to do so inadvertently because the engine never screams or sounds stressed in any way. You drive by the tach a lot because of this, but you soon get the rhythm of upshifting at 6200 rpm when you're working it. The engine likes to work aggressively in the twisties at nearly 6000 rpm. It feels so strong that you get the feeling the rev limiter is set slightly and conservatively low, and the specs would support this, as the engine makes its maximum 394 horsepower at 6600 rpm. An upshift at 6200 rpm is actually a short shift, and feels like it. Six thousand rpm in third gear is about 88 mph, and it's a measure of the control of this car that this is not an uncommon place to be, when you're driving for satisfaction on a desolate winding two-lane road, in a region of a western state with almost no population. You live in Jersey, you want an M5, you move out West to exercise it.

The six-speed gearbox, a fortified version of that found in the 540i, shifts with tight precision, having a relatively short throw. And sixth gear is not too tall, so you still have torque to accelerate without downshifting at 60 mph. The throttle blip during heel-and-toe downshifts was responsive, but we didn't find the pedals perfectly matching our feet and legs.

The brakes are magic, flawless, breaking a barrier for power, consistency and easy control during hard usage. We were so dazzled that we forgot to test the ABS-like, the brakes are so good that the notion of a "panic" stop never occurred to us. The front rotors are 13.6 inches and the rear 12.9, which says most of it. We did have one small problem, having reached unprecedented ground: when braking from high speed, stunningly deep for a second-gear turn, there was so much forward momentum on our body that if the road was bumpy our right foot was forced hard against the brake pedal, making things less smooth than desired. We needed racing seatbelts to pin our shoulders back.

Point and shoot is an expression that usually refers to a car that doesn't corner, but it rings true for the M5 because you can point it through a corner. It has such solid grip that the car confidently shoots around corners, not merely away from them; you don't have to wait for the apex to floor it. There is a Sport mode, which tightens the recirculating ball steering (and quickens the throttle responsive), making the car feel somewhat heavy at slow speeds, but the "M Servotronic" speed-sensitive power steering is seamless; you don't realize it's there, but the faster you go the lighter the M5 feels.

Performance, performance, performance is what you hear about the M5, but it